Investment
Forbes

Millions Of Student Loan Borrowers Could Pay $3,500 More Per Year In Interest Starting This Week—Here’s Why

July 28, 2025
09:25 AM
7 min read
AI Enhanced
financialeducationfinancemarket cyclesseasonal analysismarket

Key Takeaways

Borrowers whose payments have been on hold will start accruing interest on Friday.

Article Overview

Quick insights and key information

Reading Time

7 min read

Estimated completion

Category

investment

Article classification

Published

July 28, 2025

09:25 AM

Source

Forbes

Original publisher

Key Topics
financialeducationfinancemarket cyclesseasonal analysismarket

What's particularly noteworthy is Millions Of Student Loan Borrowers Could Pay $3,500 More Per Year In Interest Starting This Week—Here’s WhyByAlison Durkee, Forbes Staff

Alison is a senior news reporter covering US and legal news

AuthorJul 28, 2025, 09:25am EDTToplineThe Trump administration will resume charging interest this week on student loans under the Biden-era plan, which have been on hold while the plan’s tied up in court—potentially costing nearly 8 million borrowers an extra $3,500 per year in interest (which is quite significant)

Furthermore, Education Secretary Linda McMahon testifies during a Senate hearing on June 3 in Washington, DC, in today's market environment

Getty ImagesKey FactsThe Trump administration will begin charging interest on the loans starting Aug. 1, ing a July 9 announcement by the Education Department, though borrowers will not have to resume making payments until the forbearance period ends, in today's financial world

However, Nevertheless, The plan was established by the Biden administration and offers borrowers a more flexible and affordable way to pay back their loans, but borrowers enrolled in the plan have had their loans in forbearance since last summer, after federal courts blocked loan forgiveness under the plan in response to a lawsuit from GOP state attorneys general

Additionally, Borrowers previously did not have any interest accrue on their loans while the legal case ceeds, and it’s un how much longer the litigation will take to play out, though the Education Department previously said borrowers should not expect to resume payments until December at the earliest, in this volatile climate

The change will affect apximately 7, in today's market environment. 84 million borrowers with loans under the plan that are now in forbearance, according to the Education Department, with the Student Borrower tection Center (SBPC) jecting in an analysis that resuming interest will result in an extra $27 million in combined accrued interest over a 12-month period

Nevertheless, The average borrower enrolled in the plan will be charged apximately $3,500 more in interest per year, or apximately $300 per month, versus if the interest accrual had remained on hold, the SBPC predicted

This leads to the conclusion that Department of Education argued the change regarding interest accrual is necessary because of a February court ruling that broadened the scope of the court order pausing the plan, claiming the ruling blocked the vision of the law the government used to justify not charging any interest

What Should Borrowers Under The Plan Do

This tells us that Trump administration recommends that borrowers whose loans are in forbearance under the plan should try to move their loans to a different income-driven repayment plan

The evidence shows ’s un how long that would take, however, as while the Trump administration is cessing applications for those plans, there’s also been a significant backlog when it comes to application cessing, in this volatile climate

The data indicates that Education Department said in a June court filing that 1, in today's financial world

However, 5 million applications for income-driven repayment plans had still yet to be cessed, meaning that while borrowers can try to change to another plan, it may take a while to do so

In contrast, The agency said in July that any borrowers who have previously submitted an application for income-driven repayment and selected the Income-Based Repayment, Pay As You Earn, or Income-Contingent Repayment plans will not have to submit a new application

Nevertheless, Borrowers who remain enrolled in the plan are still not required to resume making payments on their loans, but the Education Department notes they can make interest-only payments to their loans if desired, in light of current trends

How Does This Affect Student Loan Forgiveness (an important development)

Market analysis shows months spent in forbearance under the Plan will not count toward loan forgiveness through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness or Income-Driven Repayment grams, which require borrowers to make payments for a certain number of months before their remaining loan balance is forgiven

That’s still the case even once interest starts accruing on Aug, given current economic conditions. 1, according to the Education Department, so borrowers will have to switch plans in order to start having months count toward their forgiveness again, amid market uncertainty

Borrowers eligible for Public Service Loan Forgiveness may also be eligible to “buy back” some months of their payment history in order to make them count toward forgiveness, if doing so would complete their total number of qualifying payments for forgiveness, in today's financial world

In addition to the court order stopping payments under the Plan, court orders are also now blocking the government from viding any loan forgiveness under the Plan, Pay As You Earn Repayment Plan (PAYE) and Income-Contingent Repayment Plan (ICR), amid market uncertainty

Forgiveness is still allowed under the Income-Based Repayment Plan (IBR), and the Education Department notes payments made under the, PAYE and ICR plans will count toward forgiveness after borrowers switch over to an IBR plan

That being said, forgiveness under IBR plans is on hold right now while the Education Department its systems, given the current landscape

Furthermore, ContraThe SBPC disagrees with the government’s claim that it was legally required to start charging interest again, arguing in its analysis that the February court ruling does not include any “discussion of the legality of the Department’s temporary, interest-free forbearance (remarkable data), given current economic conditions. ” “Despite representations by the U (something worth watching)

Department of Education … to the contrary, no federal or state court—including 8th Circuit Court of Appeals—has issued an order instructing the Department to resume charging these borrowers interest or calling into question the Secretary’s authority to waive interest accrual for borrowers whose payments have been susp,” the organization said

On the other hand, Key BackgroundStudent loans have become a controversial political topic in recent years, as Democrats have made forgiveness a key issue while Republicans strongly oppose it (this bears monitoring)

Furthermore, This tells us that plan was one of a number of incremental initiatives the Biden administration implemented in order to forgive student debt and lighten borrowers’ repayments, after a coalition of GOP state attorneys general successfully challenged the administration’s more sweeping plan to vide relief to most federal borrowers

The Trump administration has sought to make major changes to the student loan gram in recent months and roll back Biden-era forgiveness grams, with Education Secretary Linda McMahon saying in April, “American taxpayers will no longer be forced to serve as collateral for irresponsible student loan policies, in light of current trends. ” The changes have included trying to move the federal student loan portfolio from the Education Department to the Small Administration and resuming debt collection for borrowers who have defaulted on their loans

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump’s domestic policy bill, which he signed into law last week, will also impose new limits on student loans and broadly overhaul the cess for student loan repayments, limiting new borrowers to only two different payment plans

Further ReadingForbesHow Trump’s Spending Bill Will Impact Your Student Loans—As It Heads To President For SignatureBy Alison Durkee ForbesTrump Administration To Charge Interest On Student Loans In PlanBy Adam S

Minsky ForbesTrump’s Presidency And Student Loans: What Move To Small Administration Means For BorrowersBy Alison Durkee ForbesTrump Resumes Defaulted Student Loan Collections Today—Impacting Millions Of Borrowers, in light of current trends

Furthermore, By Alison DurkeeGot a tip

Confidential information with Forbes

Editorial StandardsRes & PermissionsLOADING PLAYER, in today's market environment.